The Unvieling
by rikashi079
Summary: The story you are about to read includes charaters from SGT Frog, real Mayan temples and Mayan crystal skulls, and my own imagination of the legend of te Crystal Skull. I wanted to write a story about my idea why Dororo wears a mask. I hope for those who do read the stroy, find it entertainng.
1. Chapter 1

Unveiling

Chapter 1

It was an early Friday morning; the sun had just risen over the horizon. The platoon was making plans for the weekend. All but one member was in the meeting room deciding what grand adventure to pursue. The group was discussing the next invasion plan. It consisted of going to South America and locating the thirteen skulls of the ancient civilization of the Mayans. After the leader finished, he waited for a response from his team. Two of his subordinates agreed, but he was waiting for the third.

With eyes closed, his head nodding, the one that did not respond cleared his throat. "Ehm… Mmm…For one of your caliper, I find this plan unique. It takes a strong, determined, unwavering leader to execute this plan," he paused, and his onyx eyes glared at his leader. Letting his superior beam, the subordinate grinned and added, "However you do not have the fangs to pull off such tedious plan."

The Sargent was taken back at the corporal's tirade, and tried to maintain his composure, "But with this we may be able to finally take over Pekopon."

"Tch…a wild goose chase!" bearing his fangs, the red alien frog fumed at the annoying pitched voice.

Gulping at the sight of the corporals sharp teeth, the panicked green leader felt his own barely braking the edge of his own tooth line.

Rubbing his eyes, the red frog thought 'all of my training, being in the top five percent of my class, and I have to get stuck with this simpleton! Why couldn't I have been assigned to my brother's platoon?' Clenching his right hand, he thought of punching in the green head. Knowing his leader would tire from this ludicrous plan, and how the suck-up private second class would react if he did punch his leader, the corporal restrained himself. He needed to cool down, but how? With him still rubbing his eyes, the red, hot headed team member gave his leader a piercing look of loathing. "Do whatever you damn well please, but leave me out of it," And with those words, he stood up from his chair and stormed out of the room.

Meanwhile, in a nearby forest sits a light blue little ninja under a water fall meditating on events from the past week. His heart was dwelling on something else which was really concerning him. He was hiding the truth from his team members on why he wore a mask. Normally it would not bother him, but with the longing to rekindle an old friendship, he was torn between telling his secret or not. The red corporal, Giroro, was Dororo's closest friend since the time they were tadpoles. However, with the plans to invade Pekopon (earth) and his new desire to keep the planet save, drove the friends apart.

As Giroro walked, and Dororo meditated, the rest of the platoon discussed the trip to South America to locate the Mayans thirteen crystal skulls. Sargent major explained that, if the legend was true, having all thirteen skulls would increase the platoon's weapons tenfold. Of course, the team would have to locate all thirteen skulls, a great task for a green frog with a short attention span. Nonetheless, Sargent Keroro accepted the challenge anyway. As always the midnight blue private second class, Tamama, followed the Sargent, and as did the sinister yellow Sargent major, Kururu.

"Fuyuki will want to join us of course, so we will have to inform him it is to help with his Paranormal Club…Gero, gero" Keroro chuckled.  
"Kukukuu… and of the red-headed pekoponian and her mother?" Kururu asked.

"Gero?... They won't be a bother. What they don't know won't hurt them, right?

"Oh Sarg… you're so smart!" Tamama beamed, and wagging his polliwog tail.

The Sargent bound up the stairs to invite his pekoponian best friend, Hinata Fuyuki, to come along. Fuyuki loved strange objects like the thirteen skulls and would have been upset if Keroro did not invite him.

It was about a half an hour after Giroro started is walk. Giroro continued down a path in the neighboring forest and come upon a little house. He knocked on the door but no answer. Maybe Dororo was at the waterfall. Giroro walked down a path leading to a small waterfall and spotted his childhood friend. Sitting cross legged, on a rock, under the waterfall, Dororo was meditating. Giroro smirked, and sat up against a tree waiting for his friend to finish.

Slowly opening up his eyes, Dororo saw a snoozing red figure in the distance. Giroro! The blue ninja jumped up from meditation and sprang over to the sleeping corporal. Not want to really wake him up, Dororo just watch until Giroro's hand slipped off his knee jolting him away. Dororo snicker at the reaction.

"Uhn?" Giroro jerked. Looking up he saw his friend smiling at him.

"Ohiyoo Giroro-kun."

"Uh... Oh… hey," Giroro stood up and stretched. "How is it going?"

"I am well. This is a surprise though. I was not expecting to see you here," Dororo beamed.

"Yeah well… Keroro was planning a wild goose chase that I am sure he will tire of, and I didn't want any part of it. Besides, it has been a while since we just talked."

"Yes, it has been a while. I am happy you came to see me. Since we were tadpoles you were the only one that was truly my friend, and I thank you for that."

"Ehh…" Giroro blushed, "don't mention it."

The two walked back to the little house, and Dororo made some tea. Giroro explained the plan to collect the Mayan Crystal skulls and use them to invade the planet.

Dororo shook his head, "Well with any luck Keroro will tire and come back empty handed. But searching for these artifacts does sound like a grand adventure."

"But who really knows where they all are. It would take years to search for them unless the crazy loon of a scientist made some form of tracking device," Giroro paused remembering what he said to the Sargent, "Besides he does not have the fangs to pull this mission off."

Dororo winced at the mention of fangs and sighed, "Well what do you wish to do then?"  
"Mmm… I guess I can tag along to make sure nothing happens to the stupid leader of ours."

"I wish you luck then."

"You are coming too, right?"

"You know how I feel about this planet."

Giroro sighed. "Ya I do, but what a way to have an adventure? Having my adventure buddy with me"

The power blue eyes of the ninja glistened as he began to tear up. "Giroro… "

"Oh come on now, no need to get all teary eyed. After all we did have some great times together" Grinned Giroro as he patted Dororo on the back.

The two laughed, and reminisced on their childhood.


	2. Chapter 2

Unveiling

Chapter 2

It was mid-morning, about ten o'clock, when Giroro and Dororo set of to the platoon's base underneath the Hinata's home under cloaked. Giroro was leaning on Dororo laughing hysterically about a childhood memory.

"Ooh… Oh… ah…," as Giroro tried to calm his laughter. "I was so angry at my brother. I had the hiccups for two days straight after that."

"Yeah you did," the blue ninja replied, "and remember how I helped you get rid of them?"

The red corporal stopped dead in his tracks and hung his head in embarrassment. "Eh… yeah."

Dororo snickered, "I do believe I hit a nerve. Let me see…" Smiling mischievously under his mask, Dororo tapped his chin. "You were in your bedroom playing with one of your beloved trains. I came over and asked your brother if you STILL had the hiccups. He nodded, and then I told him not to announced I had stopped by to visit. Sneaking up the stairs, I tiptoed to your opened bedroom door, silently snuck up and roared 'BOOO'".

As if the shamed corporal couldn't get any more red, "eh… I… literally wet myself."

Even Dororo blushed after his friend's confession. "You jumped ten feet in the air it seemed. Boy did we have a mess to clean up."

Shining like Raudolf's nose, Giroro was silent, "..."

"Don't worry; you know I wouldn't tell a soul. Best friends won't do that."

Giroro nodded and then shook his head of the humiliating memory and started to walk again. The two comrades soon found themselves walking into the Hinata's back yard and entered the house through the back entrance. They turned off their cloaking devices and walked through the house till they hit the basement door. Down they went and found the other team members finishing the loading of equipment for the trip to South America.

Fuyuki was carrying some bedding when he spotted the blue and red platoon mates. "Giroro, Dororo! I thought you were not coming."

"Well… someone will have to keep that idiot in line," Giroro exclaimed.

"And I have never seen the Mayan's temples." added Dororo.

"Great," beamed the pekoponian boy. He then trotted off to tell the leader of the platoon.

As expected the yellow frog made the tracking device to locate the thirteen skulls. It was a quite simple project. The skulls emanated an electromagnetic frequency that can be detected easily. The yellow frog just needs to tune into each of the skulls. Keroro and Tamama where looking over the check list to make sure they had everything on the list. All of the sudden a roar came booming down the corridor. A red-headed pekoponian girl, named Natsumi and Giroro's secret crush, busted into the loading dock. Everyone halted. The corporal stood in a trance drooling, as she stormed over to the green frog and picked him up by his head.

"And where in the world do you think you are going? This better not be a secret mission to take over earth!" she boomed at him.

"How did you find out so soon?" The green frog yelped.

"It said it on the calendar! Did you not THINK I would not notice something like that?"

The green frog winced as he tried to escape her death grip on his head, "Natsumi-dono, It …it is to help your brother with his club."

With her brow twitching with doubt, she eyed the little green idiot, then throwing him to the ground and stepped on his head. Crossing her arms, "I hope so you stupid frog. And if you do get any ideas of crossing that line, so help me I will send you packing."

Watching his love dominating his leader with no remorse, Giroro, blushing as red as a 'red alert' on a ship, just stood there in a trance. 'So strong, so unwavering, so...'

The seduced corporal didn't even notice Natsumi was headed his was. "Giroro... Hey Giroro!" repeated Natsumi as she stood over the hypnotized corporal.

"Ggaahhhhh..." Realizing Natsumi was standing right over, he fell to the floor, he answered, "Ye..yes?"

"And I know you will keep them in line right?" Natsumi smiled.

Standing up with a salute, "Of... Of course Ma'am" and in his mind he said 'anything for you my sweet warrior princess.'

She smiled and winked at the words he spoke, patted him on the head, and glared at the green frog as she walked out of the loading bay.

Keroro gulped as Natsumi glared at him then walked out of the loading bay. Keroro wiped his brow, "Few… That was a close one. I thought I was a goner." Recomposing himself, the green frog continued in the preparations of the trip.

The platoon and Fuyuki finished loading the equipment onto the ship. Keroro's adopted humanoid alien niece, Mois, wanted to join the team, but someone needed to stay behind to watch the base and keep operations running smoothly. Tamama was relieved to know that Mois as stay behind. The midnight blue polliwog wanted his leader all to himself and hated that he had to share his leader with that she-devil. Kururu was setting up the tracking device on the bridge. Beaming with delight that he will be locating the thirteen skulls, Fuyuki walked behind the scientist and watched the yellow frog installing the equipment. Kururu really didn't like people hovering over him has he worked, but Fuyuki was so excited about this trip that Kururu allowed young Pekoponian to watch.

It was noon when everything was ready to go. Keroro, Kururu, Tamama, and Fuyuki were all on the bridge. Dororo and Giroro were in their quarters. As always, the red frog was polishing his weapons and daydreaming of Natsumi. Dororo was laying on his bed thinking on the adventure to come. The blue ninja was fiddling with his mask. Sitting up, the lance corporal reached around to the back of his head and unclipped his mask. Moving to the edge of the bed, Dororo pulled off his masked; he sighed. He walked to the bathroom and looked into the mirror. Face to face with his own reflection, he cringed.

"Will I ever have the courage to tell my best friend my secret." he asked himself.


	3. Chapter 3

Unveiling

Chapter 3

The soothing hum of the Keronian ship, under cloak, soared over the Pacific Ocean. Two hours had passed since the departure from Japan, and the crew was busy with tasks to obtain the thirteen skulls. Fuyuki was in his quarters reading a book about the Mayan temples, and Tamama was watching a movie and eating chips (wait that has nothing to do with the mission) in Keroro's qurters. Giroro was inventorying the weapons in the weapons bay, while Dororo, with his mask off, was meditating in his room. The green Sargent was sitting at a table with the yellow Sargent Major discussing matters concerning the skulls. With his black beady eyes, Keroro looked to Kururu with fear.

"Are you sure about this?" the Sargent asked.

"Kuku... Who is to really say; it is a legend after all," the yellow frog replied.

The green frog's brow twitched. Pressing a button, his voice was heard throughout the ship, "Emergency meeting, all please come to the conference room at once."

Tamama, with his bag of chips, and Fuyuki, with his book in his hands, were first to the meeting and greeted the Sargent and Sargent Major. Giroro was making his way from the weapons bay and passed by Diroro's quarters. He heard chanting from the room; Giroro knocked. Inside, Dororo snapped out of his meditation. He looked down at his mask contemplating on showing his friend the truth or not. 'Not just yet' the ninja thought and placed it back around his mouth. As Dororo opened the door, his powder blue eyes met with the gazed of the red corporal's onyx eyes.

"Giroro?" the ninja blushed.

"Didn't you hear the announcement?" the corporal asked.

"Apparently not," scratching the back of his head, "Sorry."

Smirking the red frog slightly bared his fangs, "Ahh... It is ok. I know how you get when you meditate."

The Lance Corporal lowered his gaze after he glanced at his friend's smirk. "Shall we?" he whispered, while closing his door.

Looking at his team member, Giroro noticed his friend's discomfort. "You know... You didn't have to come if you really didn't want to." Patting Dororo on his back, the Corporal knew how much his friend loved the planet, and the mission was against the ninja's better judgment.

Turning to Giroro, Dororo patted his platoon mate on the shoulder, "It is not that, I... I will tell you later. We have a meaning to get to." And with that, the blue ninja headed off to the meeting.

Following after his friend, Giroro pondered on the last line Dororo said. 'I will tell later.' He wondered what Dororo wanted to tell him. Shrugging it off, he hurried to the meeting. The last seat was between Kururu and Dororo. It was better than sitting next to the Sargent; having somebody in between the green leader and him was the wall of protection. As he took his seat, Giroro gave a concerning glance at Dororo. Kururu notice the gesture and gave a little chuckle. Then Keroro looked at the group and cleared his through.

"Ehm... Good to see everyone here. Now straight to business. We will be arriving to our first temple in just about an hour or so. It seems that we over looked a small detail. As Kururu was looking over the literature, he discovered more to the legend. It turns out that we may encounter the Wares." the Sargent paused. Everyone just stared at him except Kururu. Fuyuki was flipping through his book; page after page he searched the book. The pekoponian boy did not find any legend of the Wares.

"Nowhere in my book does it mention the Wares. Are you sure about this Sarge?" Fuyuki asked.

"According to the Sargent Major, the Wares are not mentioned in any know literature written today. However, Kururu discovered the legend while studying the inscriptions of the temples we are going to search. Now considering it is a legend, I am not too worried about the Wares." Keroro waved his hand to reassure his platoon.

"But, aren't legends based off of some form of true?" the concerned ninja questioned.

"Gero?... Where did you come from?" Keroro stared at his Lance Corporal in confusion.

"Wha...?" and then the forgotten blue frog's trauma switch was triggered. A dark aura enveloped him, and he balled up in the chair.

Giroro growled at his leader and balled up his fist, "Dororo has been here the whole time, and you just KNOW noticed he was here?" The Corporal looked to his sadden blue friend then back to the simpleton leader. "And you call him your friend after all these years." Giroro placed a comforting hand on Dororo's shoulder as he bared his fangs at Keroro. From a loathing gaze at his leader, the red frog looked to the blue frog. Dororo looked up at Giroro and smiled wiping tears from face and blushing.

"Thanks Giroro" the ninja whispered.

"Don't mention it... NOW!" Turning his head toward his leader, "This legend... Who or what are these Wares and do they oppose a threat to us?"

Kururu stood up, pressed a button, and a large computer screen descended from the ceiling. A drawing of a human in sequence displayed the transformation in to a panther. "Kuku... These Wares are an ancient race of pekoponians with the ability to transform into a animal called the black panther. It is said the Wares are formidable fighters. With the ability to transform, this race could easily prowl the forests, and if they feel the intruders are a threat, they attack. However, the race was supposedly wiped out nearly a thousand years ago. A few sighting have been recorded after the race had been declared extinguished from adventurers who tried to obtain artifacts from the temples. The last attempt to collect some rare artifacts was ten years ago, and the adventurers came back with delusions of people turning into panthers." finishing his little speech, Kururu pressed the button again and the screen rose back up into the ceiling. "Well I'm all done here...kuku... I will take my leave and be on the bridge."

"So ... All we have to is defeat these Wares?" the red Corporal replied.

"But Sarge, if these people still exist, shouldn't we stop this trip before it goes too far?" Fuyuki asked.

"Oh Fuyuki...like Kururu said, it has been ten years since the last sighting. So I am sure everything will be fine." Keroro scratched his head.

"Tch... A bunch of kitty cats uh? I doubt they are a match for me." Giroro smirked.

"But they are protecting their treasure from intruders like us." Dororo stated, "I do not wish to steal from the Wares."

"Where is your adventurous spirit? I was hoping to share in the fun with my adventure buddy." Giroro smiled patting Dororo on the back. Then he bent closer the ninja's ear and whispered, "Besides, one sign of danger and Keroro will want to turn back."

Dororo nodded. "All right, I will do it." placing his hand on top of Giroro's, which was resting on the table. Then Giroro blushed.

Finishing up his chips, "I will go anywhere Sarge goes." Tamama beamed.

"As long as we don't do anything to upset the Wares." Fuyuki said timidly.

"All right then, it is a go." the excited green frog hopped up on the table and laughed, "Gero Gero Gero... Those thirteen skulls will soon be ours." Just as Keroro was ablaze with excitement, the intercom screeched.

"Kuku... We will be landing in about fifteen minutes at Yucatán, Mexico, the Temple of Kukulkan." Kururu announced.

(The places mentioned in the story are real. The legend of the Crystal Skulls is mixed with myth and my own imagination.)


	4. Chapter 4

Unveiling

Chapter 4

It was silent on the ship; everyone was asleep but Dororo. The clocks on the ship were still on Japanese time, 5:00 PM Friday afternoon; however, in Yucatán, Mexico it was 1:00 AM Thursday morning. A sixteen hour time difference and Dororo could not sleep. It was a mix between excitement and jet lag that kept him awake. The little ninja sat quietly in his room on his bed crossed-legged and meditated on events to come. Will they find a crystal skull here, and if so what dangers will they encounter? He was also pondering on the secret he was hiding from Giroro. It had saddened him to keep it for so long now. Soon the little ninja was drifting off to sleep, so he uncrossed his legs, pulled the covers up, and snuggled down under the blanket. Before he fully went to sleep, he unclipped his mask and hung it on a hook just above his bunk.

"Dororo… Dororo!" someone banged on his door. Then the door started to open, "Are you up?"

Hearing the door open, Dororo panicked and snapped the covers over his head. A blue arm reached for the mask and vanished back under the covers. He heard Giroro's steps getting closes. Under covers, the frightened blue platoon mate quickly fastened his mask around his mouth. Knowing he was safe now, the sleepy ninja uncovered his head. He let out a deep sigh of relief. 'That was a close one.' Sitting up with heavy eyelids, Dororo looked to Giroro.

"Yes, I am awake now." The Lance Corporal yawned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Well good morning sleeping beauty," Giroro smirked with his hand resting on his hip, "Come on, we have a meeting to get to."

Still groggy from staying up late, the sleepy Lance Corporal nodded and followed his teammate to the meeting room. The last ones to show, Giroro and Dororo took the remaining chairs. Keroro was standing and looked to everyone. Kururu, eating curry, was next to the Sargent. Tamama, wagging is tail with delight, was on the other side of Keroro, and Fuyuki was sitting next to Tamama.

"Ok," began the green frog, "This is our first stop, Yucatán, Mexico. The temple we are visiting today is in the city of Chichen Itza. Fuyuki if you please."

"The temple is known as the Temple of Kukulkan. The Maya people worshipped a deity named Kukulkan, the feathered serpent. Some also called it the war serpent. It also has been said that from time to time the people would store a crystal skull here." Fuyuki paused and looked at Keroro, who motioned the young boy to sit.

Looking at all his platoon mates, Keroro spoke, "The skull tracker has not picked up any signs of electromagnetic frequency that would indicate a skull nearby, but it could be concealed. So we will head in to the temple with the portable scanners to see if we can locate any skulls. We will split up in to two teams. Tamama, Fuyuki, and I will be one team and Giroro and Dororo will be the other. Kururu will stay on the ship and monitor things from here."

The Sargent major stood up and gave Giroro and Fuyuki the portable electromagnetic frequency scanners. "These are designed to scans several frequencies every few seconds. Each skull emanates a different frequency, so for a safe guard, I incorporated several frequencies." He went back to his seat and shoved some curry in to his mouth. "Another thing," taking in another forkful, "They need to be recharged within three hours."

"Then, the portable scanners will also serve as a timer. If we have not found any signs of a skull with in those three hours then we had back to the ship and head to the next destination." Keroro added.

"And be wary of booby traps too." The Corporal gave a piercing look to his leader, "We don't need and 'boobs' setting them off."

"Also, just because they are a legend, I would watch out for the Wares." yawned Dororo.

Fuyuki nodded, "Dororo has a good point Sarge. We really don't need to upset the protectors of the skulls if they are out there."

Shaking his head, he looked to his team, "And if they are out, which I highly doubt, we will fight for the skulls. Now let's get going. We have thirteen of these things to find and many more temples to search."

"Aye Aye sir," Tamama saluted.

Keroro, Tamama, and Fuyuki headed out first. Kururu stayed on the ship as always, and Giroro and Dororo followed the first group. As they walked of the ship wonder filled the group's eyes. The thick, lush, green, vegetation against a bright blue sky looked like a photo from Natural Geographic. The Temple of Kukulkan was a masterpiece. The architecture dominated the landscape. Fuyuki was barely holding his enthusiasm. His eyes sparkled like the first time he saw a real alien in his room (which was Keroro). The rest of the platoon looked on in amazement.

"Humans really built this?" Tamama asked, looking to Fuyuki.

Beaming at Tamama, "Some do say the Mayans were an advance civilization. But there are others that believe the humans had help from an alien race that visited. The book reads that the temple was built by pre- Columbian Mayan civilization between the 9th and 12th century common era (CE). The base is 55.3 meters across, and the temple stands thirty meters high; twenty-four meters for the structure and six meters for the temple. All four side of the pyramid have a flight of stair containing ninety-one steps, and if you add the final step to the temple, it equals 365. Mm… the total number of days in a year excluding the leap year. Interesting."

"Ok ok ok… enough of the history lesson. Let's go search for the skull," Keroro tapping his foot impatiently.

The group was half way up the stairs before Keroro was huffing and puffing. "Did they have to put so many steps?"

"Tch… If you would have been working out regularly, instead of playing with your models, you would be in shape for this." Giroro sneered.

"Come on," Fuyuki picked the little green friend up and placed the winded alien frog in his shoulders," I will carry you the rest of the way.

The group continued up the stairs. When they reached the top, they turned around. The view from the top of the structure was even more spectacular. They could see the whole city and then some. Even Giroro was taken by the beauty of it all. Besides Natsumi, nothing really took his breathe away. Dororo was starting to tear at the wondrous sight. Then the moment was broken when their leader turned around and motioned them to search for the skull. As the platoon went in, the ninja's acute senses alerted him that they were being watched. Narrowing his eyes, he scanned the surroundings. He couldn't see anything; however, that did not they were not alone. Dororo turned around and joined the rest of his team mates. Keroro indicated to Giroro and Dororo to go right, and Fuyuki, Tamama, himself would go left.

The Corporal and Lance Corporal followed a pathway throw the temple. The tracking device did not give any indication of a skull being present yet. As the two continued on, Dororo stopped Giroro.

"Senpai…" Giroro looked to his friend

"What is it?" The red frog asked.

"We are being watched," Dororo whispered. "And I believe it is the Wares who are watching."

Giroro always trusted Dororo's senses, and if the ninja said they are being watch, they were being watched. "Alright, we best be on our toes then."

Meanwhile on the other side, the trio of trouble makers made their way to another chamber. Fuyuki mentioned something about traps, but as always the Pekoponian's little green friend ignored the warning. Tamama, however, was a little more cautious. The mid-night blue Keronian looked where he was stepping and so did the young Pekoponian. Keroro scanned the area. No such luck. As they continued on, Keroro stepped on a loose stone. All three adventurers froze, and then Fuyuki yelped as he fell.

"FUYUKI!" Keroro yelled

Dororo and Giroro heard the scream and then Keroro yelling for Fuyuki. The two dashed through the passage way, the temple, and then to the other passage way were the other three were located. Fuyuki was holding on to the edge of the dropped floor. At the bottom of the pit were two to three foot spikes protruding from the pit's floor. All four frogs, with Keroro at the front, heaved their human team mate up. After lifting Fuyuki to safety, they all took a few minutes to ketch their breathe. All of a sudden from further down the corridor, Dororo caught a glimpse golden eyes looking that the group. Tapping Giroro on the arm, the ninja indicated the corporal to look ahead. The weapons expert started to materialize a weapon, but before he could finish, Dororo stopped him.

"It is a warning. They want us to leave." Dororo mentioned loud enough for all to hear.

Keroro looked at Dororo then to what was down the hall. Just than he caught a glimpse of what his Lance Corporal was talking about. All of a sudden, the tracking devices sounded off. Fuyuki looked to the dark corridor and back to the device going off. Keroro was partially frozen in fear still looking in the direction of the glowing eyes. The Sargent then looked to the scanner. He picked it up and stood up. The rest of the team stood up and looked to the green leader. With a stern look, the leader gazed at his subordinates.

"Wares or not, we will get those skulls," Holding up the beeping tracking device.

(Locations and temples are real. If I am correct the time zones are accurate as well. If I am wrong do not hesitate to inform me)


	5. Chapter 5

The beeping of the tracking device was increasing in volume and repetition. They were getting closer to the skull. The ninja and weapons expert were leading the team. The Sargent was holding the scanner, and Private Second Class and Peokponian teenage boy had flashlights. The eyes, the team saw earlier, had faded in the dark. Though the team did not see the Ware anymore, that didn't mean it was gone. Dororo's senses were at their peak; he knew the ware was still lurking in the shadows but where? Giroro, with a light saber at one side and a gun on his other, was following Dororo close behind. On occasion, the Corporal would look back to make sure the remaining members were not falling too far behind. All of a sudden Dororo stopped and held out an arm to halt Giroro and the others. A dead end.

"Kururu," Keroro beckoned, "What do you make of this?"

On the ship, Kururu studied the screen. A small camera, mounted in the safari hat Fuyuki was wearing, displayed a picture of a feathered serpent. Around the image were inscriptions. It only took a few moments to decipher the inscriptions.

"Kuku… It is a riddle, a math riddle," Kururu replied, "If one is five, two is ten, three is fifteen, four is twenty and so on. If the sequence is like that, what is ten?" Kururu, being the genius that he is, already knew the answer.

"If one is five, two is ten, three is fifteen, four is twenty and so on. If the sequence is like that, what is ten?" Giroro repeated. The corporal was not a math whiz, by no means. He knew basic multiplication. "The phrase, 'if the sequence is like that…' would it not be fifty?"

Tamama and Keroro were thinking too hard, and by the looks on their faces, fried their brains. Dororo and Fuyuki, however, thought through the riddle carefully.

Stroking his chin through his mask, the Lance Corporal spoke the riddle out loud and slowly," If one is five… two is ten… three is fifteen… four is twenty… and so on. If the sequence is like that… what is ten?"

"Ten is two!" proclaimed Dororo and Fuyuki at the same time. Just as soon as they said the answer, the wall slowly -with a loud rumble-retracted into the ceiling.

"kukukukuuuuu, Kururu chuckled, "Good job you two."

The team continued on. About thirty yards from the first secret entrance, was, what seemed to be, another dead end; however it split into a 'T'. There was another riddle. It read, "All three of my digits are even, but none of my digits are the same. If you round me to the nearest ten, I become 470. What number am I?" Again Dororo and Fuyuki pondered the riddle. On the wall, Kururu read the two possible answers, 468 was to the left and 466 was to the right.

"All these stupid riddle," Giroro moaned and headed off to the right. "I am going off my gut, and my gut tells me right." Just as soon the hot-head weapons expert went right, large spears shot from the wall. "Aaaahhhhhhhhh!"

"Giroro," screamed Dororo.

Eyes wide and panting heavily, Giroro manage to miss all but one. He was pinned up against the wall. The way he dodged the spears left him in an awkward position. He had a spear in between his legs, one just under his right armpit, and the last one grazed his left shoulder. Gritting his teeth and baring his fangs, the injured Corporal winced as Dororo carefully assisted his friend from the sprung trap. Dororo sat Giroro down and looked at the gash; it was not too deep but it needed to be wrapped up. Fuyuki brought over the bag with the medical supplies. The ninja dug through the bag and retrieved saline solution, a gauze roll, and a large gauze pad. Gently Dororo flush the injury with the solution. Giroro stifled a moan of pain as the saline stung his gash.

"Tch," Dororo shook his head, "Gut instincts, uh?'

Not wanting to look at his injury, Giroro just shifted his eyes toward his friend cleaning his wound, "Yeah…"

"Jumping the gun like always," Dororo began to wrap the clean injury. "When will you learn you can always go off your instincts? "

"Well I guess that is why a have you." The corporal said quietly and holding his newly wrapped wounded shoulder. Then he looked to Dororo and gave a crooked smile.

The Lance Corporal blushed, then he turned and gave the remaining gauze to Fuyuki, who returned it back in to the bag. Holding out his left hand, Dororo grabbed Giroro's right hand pulled the injured team member up.

"Fuyuki, could you help Giroro?" the ninja asked

Before the boy could answer, Giroro cut in, "I'll be fine. It takes more than a flesh wound to stop me. Besides, I still have my right arm."

The power blue eyes glared at the stubborn Corporal. He knew full well Giroro hated any form of assistance, but that wound was deep enough to need stitches, which they did not have. Dororo turn his head and let out a small sigh. 'When will senpai learn not to be so impulsive?'

After all was said and done with Giroro shoulder, the team headed down the correct path. The scanner now was a steady buzz. The skull was near, but they reached one more dead end. Everyone looked around, but no sign of entrance was visible. Even Kururu did not see anything through the camera from Fuyuki's hat. As the team continued to search, Giroro leaned against the wall cringing from the pain in his shoulder. Dororo caught Giroro's muffled moan and started over to his injured comrade. Just then, the weight of Giroro's body pushed a small stone on the wall, and the floor opened up. All at once, the group fell, and slid for what it seemed eternity. When they finally reached the end of the slide, they all dumped in to a pile.

"Where are we," moaned Tamama rubbing is tail.

"Don't know," Fuyuki answered, getting to his hands and knees.

As Keroro was standing up, the scanner released a high pitched tone. Spinning around the Sargent's eyes gazed on a transparent green skull. A beam of light, coming from a small square window in the wall, penetrated the clear crystal skull and it seemed to glow. The eerie green glow mesmerized the Sargent. The rest of the team was on their feet, but Giroro. The trip down the slide ripped some of his bandages off and he began to bleed again. Dororo aided the worn Corporal up and summoned Fuyuki over for the gauze roll again. As Dororo finished Giroro's patch job, Keroro let out a cry of joy.

"We found the first skull," beamed the jolly green frog.

Cringing in pain, "So… Grab it already."

Keroro skipped joyfully over to the skull and began to reach for it. Before the green frog could grab the skull, Fuyuki ran over and grabbed the Sarge's hand and pulled him back.

"Sarge! Wait!" the boy cried.

"Gero? What is the matter? We found the skull; all we need to do now is take it and get back to the ship."

"There is always a trap associated with artifacts such as the skulls. We need to be careful not to set it." Fuyuki finished and dug through the bag. A few moments later he pulled out an imitation skull. He stood up and walked over to the pedestal the real skull sat. (ok… totally out of Indiana movie) Very carefully Fuyuki slowly swapped the skulls. Everyone stopped breathing as the swap was made. When it seemed the cost was clear everyone gave a deep sigh of relief.

"Now, how do we get out of…"Giroro began.

All of a sudden a loud rumble engulfed the room. The floor began to split apart. "Quick… to the side where the little window is." Dororo yelled as he helped Giroro up. The group rushed over to the side with the window. "Tamama, we need your impact! You need to make that window bigger."

"Oh… ya," Tamama charged himself up, opened his mouth and a large yellow beam shot out of the polliwog's mouth. The small window was now a gaping hole.

Everyone rushed to the crumbled wall and used the rubble to climb out the trap. Dororo and Giroro were the last ones out. Keroro, Tamama, and Fuyuki assisted Dororo with Giroro. They all stood and stared at each other, and then Keroro cheered.

"WE GOT THE FIRST SKULL!" the Sargent hopped up and down for joy.

"We need to get Giroro to the ship. He desperately needs medical attention. And we need to safe guard that skull," Dororo said to Keroro.

Keroro gave Fuyuki the skull, and the boy placed it carefully into the bag. The group started to head back to the ship. Dororo, on Giroro's right side, assisted his comrade. Keroro, still, was bouncing with delight around Fuyuki, and Tamama was bouncing with joy along with his beloved Sargent. The first of thirteen crystal skulls had been found; however, Dororo knew the danger was not over yet.


	6. Chapter 6

Unveiling

Chapter 6

Kururu opened the bay doors of the ship. Dororo asked Fuyuki, who had the bag with the skull in it, to carry Giroro the few remaining yards to the ship. The ninja's sixth sense told him the Weres were near. He fell behind a bit to assure Keroro and Tamama's safety. The Sargent and private second class were struggling to reach the ship. Next thing Dororo saw frightened him; Keroro's foot snagged an exposed root and, the green frog landed on his face. Tamama rushed over to his fallen leader and helped his Sargent up. Keroro tried to put some weight on his foot, but it was injured. Then Dororo sprinted to Keroro's side.

Looking over Keroro's foot, Dororo knew it was at least sprained fairly well. "Tamama Do you think you can get him to the ship?"

"I think so," the young Keronian replied.

Before Tamama could even lift up his leader, a small group of black panthers surrounded Dororo, Keroro, and Tamama. Dororo laid a hand on his katana, just in case the black cats decided to attack. He slowly swiveled his head to look at their enemy and assess their numbers. 'Four' the ninja counted. Then, his eyes fell upon the largest in the group. Sizing the largest panther, Dororo knew it was the leader. Their eyes met and silent words were spoken.

Meanwhile on the ship, Fuyuki carried Giroro to the medical bay. Kururu met them there and examined the cut on the Corporal's shoulder. It was deep. Giroro moaned in pain and seemed to be in an absent minded state. The Sargent Major grabbed a needle to withdraw some blood from Giroro. Then Giroro started to thrash around as if something was crawling on him.

"GET THEM OFF!" the red Keronian yelled.

"~ku~ Fuyuki, hold him down," ordered Kururu.

The young Pekoponian boy did as he was told. For a two foot alien, Giroro was strong. Fuyuki had trouble holding him down. Then Kururu walked over and stuck the needle into a red arm and withdrew some blood. Then the scientist stuck another needle in the red thrashing Keronian and injected a sedative. Within a few moments Giroro calmed down a bit, and Kururu went off and analyzed Giroro's blood. As expected the spear had a toxin on its blade. Immediately, Kururu began to create an antitoxin.

Back outside, Dororo, Keroro, and Tamama were still surrounded by the panthers. The largest of the panthers took a few steps forward, and Dororo tightened his grip on his katana and narrowed his eyes. All of a sudden the large black panther transformed into a male human. Keroro and Tamama gasped in fear as the transformation took place, but Dororo stood his ground. The Were that stood in front of the three Keronians was tall, about six feet tall. His skin tone was deep copper color and a well built. The man had ebony shoulder length hair, a chiseled face and golden-copper eyes. The rest of the panther walked near him and guarded the path between the aliens and the ship.

"You have disgraced the temple." Boomed the Were. "You shall pay for your treachery."

"If we return the skull, will you let us leave without incident?" Dororo spoke up.

The man looked to his fellow untransformed people, they looked back to him. "We cannot allow you to live since you know of our existence."

Dororo shot a glare at Keroro, then back to the Were. "I understand then I will prepare to die for my fellow team members."

"Dororo! Don't! We can still get away safe." Keroro yelled.

Dororo just glared at his leader, and Keroro shut his mouth.

Back on the ship Kururu managed to create an antitoxin for Giroro and injected it into his red team member's arm that was injured. The medicine was doing its job quickly. Within minutes, Giroro was returning to his old self. Fuyuki was so thrilled, that he hugged Kururu. The scientist was not a touchy feely person and squirmed at the boy's touch. As the Corporal came to, he sat up and rubbed his head.

"I am on the ship. What happened?" Giroro asked.

"It seems you passed out just as we climbed out of the temple and Dororo told me to take you to the ship. Then Kururu discovered the spear had a poison on it which made you delusional. Then he took some of your blood, made an antidote and now you are all better."

"And the others?" snapped the red alien frog.

"~ku~ They have not returned yet." Kururu replied.

"Damn it!" Giroro breathed. Then he jumped of the table and ran to the weapons bay.

Meanwhile, back outside, Dororo told Tamama to protect the Sargent. Dororo unsheathed his katana and stood his ground between his two team members and the Weres. The leader changed back into a panther and crouched down readying himself to attack Dororo. Just about the time Dororo and the leader of the panther were going to battle, a large explosion blasted the group of panthers past the three Keronians. Keroro, Tamama, and Dororo shielded their eyes from the blast, and waited for the debris to clear. When the dust settled, Giroro was seen with mini missile launches on each legs, a gun in one hand and an oversized bazooka in the other.

With a quirky little smile he said, "Missed me?"

Dororo just stood there and grinned beneath his mask. Tamama, holding up Keroro, became teary-eyed and squealed. Giroro motioned the Private Second Class and the Sargent to head to the ship, and he looked to Dororo. The ninja knew what the weapon expert was thinking and nodded. When Keroro and Tamama were safely of the ship, Giroro ordered Kururu to take off and keep a safe distance. Once Giroro saw the ship had taken off, he turned to Dororo and grinned.

"Well, we got our adventure," the crazy red frog chuckled.

"Indeed we did. How is your shoulder?" Dororo asked.

It's fine. A turn out there was some poison on the blade, but thanks to the sadist I'm fit as a fiddle. I will have to thank him when we get back home." Giroro cringed a bit knowing he owed Kururu big time.

Dororo started to reply, when a roar bellowed from the dense shrubbery around them. Giroro and Dororo spun around and saw the leader of the werepanthers leap out of the vegetation. His teeth were and claws were bared. Death flared in his eyes and his hackles were raised. Between them both, Giroro and Dororo should be able to take this cat down. The two Keronians looked at the panther and started to devise a plan, but without warning the panther lunged at the little aliens.

"Damn! He is fast," Giroro muttered. Then he turned and aimed at the panther. "Take this!"

Giroro fired a bazooka missile at the beast and nearly hit the black panther. The Were dodged the projectile with a moment to spare. Dororo managed to get behind the black cat without him noticing and aimed a few shuriken toward the cat. The werepanther managed to miss all but one, and that one shuriken grazed the panther on the right cheek. The panther growled and turned his head toward Dororo. Narrowing his eyes the ninja prepared for a fight to the death. The panther lunged at Dororo and attempted to slash the ninja with its claws, but Dororo managed to avoid the attack by blocking the claws with his katana.

Dororo caught a glimpse of Giroro preparing to fire another missile," NO! DON'T. This fight is between me and the leader of the Weres."

Giroro lower his weapon and gave a little disapproving grunt. He watched as the Were and Dororo circled sizing each other up. Then the two warriors lunged at each other. Dororo barely dodged the large black paw by sliding between the legs of the beast. Dororo sprang up and made a hand sign; five more images of the blue alien popped into view and surrounded the panther. The Were was angered at the sight of multiple blue intruders. Watching the panther attack the duplicates of him, Dororo leapt from a nearby tree and aimed his katana straight at his opponent's heart. In a blink of an eye, the werepanther turned and smacked the ninja ten yards backward. Before Dororo hit the ground he managed to maneuver his body and landed on his feet skidding another few feet. The ninja's mask was a little torn, but not enough to really concern him. Giroro hated to see his team mate go it alone, but he was not going to interrupt a battle.

"I am impressed; you have the agility of a werepanther," the black cat complimented.

"A as ninja and assassin, I am trained in many forms," Dororo replied standing up and moved in to another fighting stance.

"You are a worthy adversary indeed little blue one. I will enjoy defeating you."

"Not if you succumb to me first."

The werepanther growled at the last words Dororo spoke and charged at the little blue alien. Preparing his katana, Dororo stood his ground and stared in to his opponents eyes. The Were leapt in to the air, and with one clawed paw swiped at Dororo. With centimeters to spare, the ninja executed a flying leap, summersaulted, and plunged his katana in to the left shoulder of the panther. Just about the time Dororo was going to use the cat's back for a pedestal to push off from, the panther twisted his body and smacked Dororo to the ground. This time the ninja did not recover from the blow. The Lance Corporal landed hard in to some nearby bushed. Giroro saw his comrade take the fall and waited for a few seconds; Dororo did not get up

"Dororo!" yelled Giroro. "Get up Dororo."

But Dororo did not get up. Seeing that his friend did not emerge from the bushes, Giroro's eyes became enrage. He could not speak. The heated Corporal turned to the werepanther and fired his mini missile launchers on his legs. The panther, being severely injured by Dororo, could not move very quickly. The missiles hit near the injured beast, and one missile exploded right in front of it. The Were flew several feet in the air and landed with a loud thud. His gun and bazooka read, Giroro walked over to the black motionless body and cautiously nudged the panther's neck. Nothing. Then he knelt down and felt for a pulse. The leader of the Weres was dead.

Then a moan was heard from a few yards away in the opposite direction. Giroro ran as fast as he could over to his fallen team member. Pushing through the shrubs Giroro found Dororo in a ball hiding his head. Giroro took a few steps closer.

"No! Do not come any closer," yelled the blue frog.

"But Dororo I need to see if you are badly hurt," Giroro replied.

"Just… just go away. I cannot let you see me like this," muttered the ninja.

Placing a firm grip on his team mate's blue shoulder, Giroro turned Dororo around. Dororo's mask was completely torn off, and he covered his face with his hands. Giroro knelt down to the Lance Corporal and looked him over. There seem to be no serious injuries, but Giroro still need to be sure.

"Dororo let me see your face." Giroro commanded.

Dororo tried to turn a way but the Corporal had a tight grip in the ninja's shoulders.

"Now! Dororo, your face!" barked Giroro.

Reluctantly Dororo slowly lowered his hands. This was the first time anyone as seen Dororo without his mask. Giroro was a little shocked but it soon faded.

"What is it that you are so ashamed of Dororo? You look like every other Keronian out there, just blue." Giroro commented.

"You do not understand," Dororo said barely opening his mouth.

"Then make me understand Damn it!"

Dororo just turned his head away.

"Dororo!" Giroro growled

Dororo slowly turned his head toward Giroro and started to open his mouth. Giroro looked on with fascination. Slowly the blue lips parted and the mouth opened. What Giroro saw, perplexed him.

"Fangs. You have fangs. Why so secretive about that?" Giroro asked.

"They are not just ordinary fangs; they are double fangs. Very few Keronians have or have had double fangs, and those that do or did, were leaders of a high caliber. And I am no leader Giroro. I am a monster." Dororo began to cry.

Giroro just sighed at his friend's dismay. He normally was not a touchy feel guy, but in this case he had to be. "Dororo…" the red frog whispered and hugged his childhood friend, "You are not monster. You are my friend. And you will always be my friend. Your teeth have nothing to do with who you are or what you will become. If you want to stay the quiet individual you are, then just stay that way."

Dororo wiped a tear from is eye and pulled back from Giroro's embarrass. "Do you really mean it?"

"I am no Keroro. We have been through too much together for me to say meaningless words," Giroro said looking into the ninja's eyes.

Then Giroro did something that shocked Dororo. The red Keronian took out his knife and sliced the two earflaps off from his hat. Then he cut one flap in fourths and poked four holes in the other. He strung each of the four slivers of his earflap through the holes of the uncut earflap. Dororo's eyes widened at what Giroro made, He made a makeshift mask then tied it around the ninja's mouth.

"I will be the only one to know why you wear this mask. And I swear to never reveal why you cover your mouth." grinned Giroro

Dororo was speechless. All he could do was hug Giroro.

"Come on let get on that ship before anymore Weres come after us," the Corporal mentioned. Then he called Kururu to come and pick them up.


End file.
